ii«r> 

'ellow's 
le Birds of Killingworth^' 



*'The story I shall tell 
Hat meaninz in it, if not mirth; 
Listen, and hear what once befell 
The merry fatrds of Killingworth." 

— Longfellow 



Lucy Adella 




^'f^-- 



ii: 



^ Longfellow's 
"The Birds of Killingworth'' 

ILLUSTRATED 

WITH INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS, OUTLINE OF THE 
STORY, NOTES, QUESTIONS, AND SUGGES- 
TIONS FOR DRAMATIZATION 



By 
Lucy Adella Sloan, M.S., M.Pd, 

Head of the Department of English 
• Central State Normal School 
Mt. Pleasantj Michigan 



SLOAN PUBLISHING COMPANY 

NOT INC. 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 






Copyright iqis By 
Lucy Adella Sloan 



All Rights Reserved 



Published October IQ15 



0)CU413232 

Composed and Printed By 

The University of Chicag-o Press 

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 

OCT 23 1915 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Brief Sketch of Longfellow's Life 5 

Place of ''The Birds of Killingworth " in the ''Tales 

OF A Wayside Inn" 5 

Longfellow's Preparation for Writing the "Tal^s" . 5 

Plan of the "Tales of A W^ayside Inn" 6 

Comments on "The Birds of Killingworth" .... 6 

1. Source of the Story 6 

2. Meter and Stanza . . 7 

3. Theme, Etc 7 

Other Bird Poems BY Longfellow 7 

A Few Bird Poems by Other Authors 8 

Outline of the Story of "The Birds of Killingworth" 8 

The Poem: "The Birds OF Killingworth" . . . . ii 

Notes 21 

Questions 26 

Suggestions FOR Dramatization . 31 

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BRIEF SKETCH OF LONGFELLOW'S LIFE 

The poem ^'The Birds of Killingworth " was written by 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, America's most popular and well- 
known poet. Born in 1807 at Portland, Maine, Longfellow 
entered Bowdoin College at the age of fourteen, graduated four 
years later, studied law a short time, was appointed to the chair 
of modern languages at Bowdoin College, spent nearly four years 
in study in Europe, began teaching at Bowdoin at the age of 
twenty-two, and was said at that time to be the greatest scholar 
in America. He taught at Bowdoin six years, was called at the 
end of that time to the same work at Harvard College, spent 
another year in study abroad, and began his work at Harv^ard at 
the age of twenty-nine. After eighteen years of successful work 
there he resigned his professorship in order to devote his time to 
literature. He died in 1882, known, honored, and loved by the 
civilized world. 

PLACE OF ''THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH" IN 
THE ''TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN'' 

''The Birds of Killingworth " is one of a group of story-poems 
known as ''Tales of a Wayside Inn." The group is divided into 
three parts. Part One, which contains "The Birds of Killing- 
worth,'' was published in 1863; Part Two, in 1872; and Part 
Three, a year later. There are seven stories in Part One; the 
same number in Part Two; and eight in Part Three. 

Longfellow's preparation for writing the "tales" 

One of Longfellow's greatest gifts was his ability to tell a 
story in verse and make it interesting. Another gift was his 
ability to master languages. He could read, write, and speak 
almost all the languages, ancient and modern, of the civilized 
world, and was familiar with all of the world's greatest literature. 
Looking over the table of contents of a volume of his poems, one 

5 



6 Longfellow's ^'birds or killingworth" 

finds translations from the Spanish, Swedish, Danish, German, 
Anglo-Saxon, French, Portuguese, Latin, etc. Whenever, in 
reading the history or literature of his own or other countries, he 
came across incidents or events that pleased him, he loved to try 
his skill at writing them out in story-poems, and always succeeded 
in making them interesting and beautiful. In this way the 
material for the various ''Tales'' was collected. Hence, if you 
read all the twenty-two stories given in the "Tales of a Wayside 
Inn," you get wonderful glimpses into the history, romance, 
legend, etc., of many different ages and places. 



The plan Longfellow worked out for presenting his ''Tales'' 
in an interesting way was as follows. He remembered that 
standing by the roadside in the town of Sudbury, about twenty- 
three miles from Boston, was a quaint old tavern. It was built 
for a home in early Colonial days by an English family of wealth 
and title, named Howe. A little later they lost their fortune, 
but the house remained in their possession and was maintained 
by the descendants of the family as an inn for a hundred and 
seventy-five years. It was called "The Howe Tavern" or, 
according to its sign, "The Red Horse Inn." Longfellow also 
remembered that some of his Boston friends were in the habit of 
going out to this inn occasionally for a holiday. So he asks his 
readers to imagine that a company of six of these friends, gathered 
at the inn on an autumn evening, relate the seven tales of Part 
One; that the next forenoon, being kept indoors by rain, they 
relate the seven tales of Part Two; the remaining eight being 
given in the evening. The friend who tells the story, "The Birds 
of Killingworth," is spoken of in the poem simply as "The Poet." 
But in a note Longfellow tells us that as the teller of this tale he 
had in mind a real poet friend, T. W. Parsons. 

COMMENTS ON '^THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH" 

Source of the story. — As has been suggested, the stories in the 
group of poems known as the "Tales of a Wayside Inn" were 
taken by Longfellow from the different litetatures of the world 



Longfellow's ^^birds of killingworth" 7 

and made over by him into poems. The story of ''The Birds of 
Killingworth " is the only one that is entirely his own invention. 
Killingworth is a small town in the southern part of Middlesex 
County, Connecticut. It is said that the early settlers in this 
town, as \vas the case in many other places, used to choose sides 
and form hunting parties to destroy the birds they believed to be 
harmful to their crops, the side that brought in the smaller number 
of dead birds being obliged to pay the bills for a banquet for 
both sides. After the birds began to grow scarce the practice 
w^as discontinued. With this slight hint as a foundation Long- 
fellow invented the story of the poem. 

Meter and stanza. — The metrical foot used in the poem is 
iambic, as each foot consists of tw^o syllables, the second of which 
is accented. 

It was / the sea/son when / through all / the larxd, 

It will be seen that there are five of these iambic feet in each line. 
The meter is therefore iambic pentameter. The stanza of eight 
lines, with its alternating repetition of rhymes in the first six lines 
and its last two lines rhyming in couplets, is an Italian verse- 
form and has an Italian name — the ottava rime (pronounced 
6t-td-vd re-ma). It is said to be ''fitted for the comic vein as 
well as for ribaldry and cynicism." It is used by Byron in his 
cynical poem "Don Juan" and by many other poets. Long- 
fellow uses it in another one of the "Tales" — the one entitled 
"The Monk of Casal-Maggiore." He doubtless uses it in "The 
Birds of Killingworth" because he wishes to speak humorously 
of some of the scenes and characters in this poem. 

Theme, etc. — The theme of "The Birds of Killingworth" is 
the story told in the poem. For central thought and climax, see 
"Questions." 

OTHER BIRD POEMS BY LONGFELLOW 

Walter von der Vogelweid. 

The Statue over the Cathedral Door. 

The Emperor's Bird's-Nest. 

The Sermon of St. Francis. 

Prelude to Part Three, "Tales of a Wayside Inn." 

The Legend of the Crossbill. 



Longfellow's '^birds of killingworth" 



A FEW BIRD POEMS BY OTHER AUTHORS 

To a Waterfowl William Cullen Bryant 

Robert of Lincoln William Cullen Bryant 

The Titmouse Ralph Waldo Emerson 

The Sandpiper Celia Thaxter 

To a Skylark Percy Bysshe Shelley 

The Belfry Pigeon N. P. Willis 

To a Skylark William Wordsworth 

The Jackdaw of Rheims Thomas Ingoldsby 

The Return of the Birds William Cullen Bryant . 

Teachers should write to the Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D.C., and ask for Bulletin No. Thirteen entitled 
Some Common Birds in Their Relation to Agriculture, also Bulletin 
No. Fifty-four, Some Common Birds. A magazine called Bird 
Lore is published at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and costs only 
one dollar per year. The bulletins from Washington cost nothing. 

OUTLINE 

Introduction. 

Season of the year; the time; the place; introduction of the 
principal characters (the birds); their liveliness and joy 
(11. 1-26). 

The story. 

Alarm of the farmers and their dreadful resolve (11. 27-32). 
Calling of the town meeting and its purpose (11. 33-40). 
People who assembled for the meeting; the place where it 

was held (11. 41-74). 
The meeting called to order; many bitter speeches made 

against the birds (11. 75-80). 
The Preceptor getting up courage to speak in defense of the 

birds (11. 81-88). 

The Preceptor^ s speech. 

Plain statement of the murderous intentions of the meeting 
and of the innocence of the little creatures who make free 
music for those who are planning to kill them (11. 89-104). 



Longfellow's "birds of killingworth'' 9 

He reminds them: (a) of the smallness of the crime for which 
the birds are to be slaughtered (11. 105-112); (b) of how 
wonderful these creatures of God are, as shown by the 
language they speak and the homes they build (11. 1 13-120) ; 
(c) of how faithfully their joyous concert is given each 
morning, of how, like the sweet air and the sunshine, their 
music daily encircles the earth (11. 1 21-128); (d) of what 
their homes and harvests would be like without the birds 
(11. 129-136); (e) of the contrast between the bird music 
and the noise of the harmful insects that will multiply and 
fill the land if the birds are destroyed (11. 137-144); (/) 
that the birds, even the blackest of them, the crows, are 
guarding their farms and destroying the enemies of their 
crops (11. 145-152); (g) that he cannot teach their children 
gentleness, mercy, and reverence for life while they see 
their fathers engaged in useless and cruel destruction of life 
(11. 153-160). 

Disapproval of the audience at the close of the address 
(11. 161-168). 

Approval of another audience which reads instead of hearing 
the speech (11. 169-176). 

The slaughter (11. 177-184). 

Coming of summer and effect of the killing of the birds: 
(a) on the country (11. 185-192); (b) on the town (11. 193- 
200) . 

Change of mind on the part of the farmers; repeal of the 
law (11. 201-208). 

Effect of the bird slaughter on the beauty of autumn (11. 
201-208). 

Nature mourning the death of her children (11. 213-216). 

The next spring; another town meeting; anxious search for 
birds; the newly-found birds liberated in Killingworth ; 
their joyous songs (11. 217-232). 

Conclusion: The Preceptor's marriage, the birds of Killing- 
worth furnishing the music. 




THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH 

It was the season, when through all the land 
The merle and mavis build, and building sing 

Those lovely lyrics, written by His hand, 

Whom Saxon Caedmon calls the Blithe-heart King; 
5 When on the boughs the purple buds expand. 
The banners of the vanguard of the Spring, 

And rivulets, rejoicing, rush and leap. 

And wave their fluttering signals from the steep. 

The robin and the blue-bird, 
piping loud, 
lo Filled all the blossoming or- 
chards with their glee; 
The sparrows chirped as if they 

still were proud Robin 

Their race in Holy Writ should mentioned be; 
And hungry crows assembled in a crowd, 
Clamored their piteous prayer incessantly, 
15 Knowing who hears the raven's cry, and said: 
^'Give us, O Lord, this day our daily bread!'' 

Across the Sound the birds of passage sailed, 

Speaking some unknown language strange and sweet 

Of tropic isle remote, and passing hailed 
20 The village with the cheers of all their ileet; 

Or quarrelling together, laughed and railed 
Like foreign sailors, landed in the street 

Of seaport town, and with outlandish noise 

Of oaths and gibberish frightening girls and boys. 



Robin 

The dooryard companion. His coming is one of the first signs of 
spring. He loves to take shower baths in the rain or in the spray of 
the garden hose. Watch him run across the lawn, or behind the plow, 
cock his head on one side, and rear back as he pulls a long earthworm 
from the moist soil. His red breast indicates the merry heart within 
as he sings, "Cheerily — cheer-up! Cheerily — cheer-up!" 

II 



12 Longfellow's ''birds of killingworth" 

25 Thus came the jocund Spring in Killingworth, 
In fabulous days, some hundred years ago; 
And thrifty farmers, as they tilled the earth, 
Heard with alarm the cawing of the crow, 
That mingled with the universal mirth, 
30 Cassandra-like, prognosticating woe; 

They shook their heads, and doomed with dreadful 

words 
To swift destruction the whole race of birds. 

And a town-meeting was convened 
straightway 

To set a price upon the guilty heads 
Of these marauders, who, in lieu of pay. 

Levied black-mail upon the garden 

European Song-Thrush (Mavis) x «j 

beds 
And corn-fields, and beheld without dismay 
The awful scarecrow, with his fluttering shreds; 
The skeleton that waited at their feast, 
40 Whereby their sinful pleasure was increased. 

Then from his house, a temple painted white. 

With fluted columns, and a roof of red. 
The Squire came forth, august and splendid sight! 
Slowly descending, with majestic tread, 
45 Three flights of steps, nor looking left nor right, 

Down the long street he walked, as one who said, 
''A town that boasts inhabitants like me 
Can have no lack of good society!" 




European Song-Thrush (Mavis) 

He belongs to a very large family, all of whom help the farmer by 
destroying worms and insects. 



U_^ ^ ^„ ^.^, ^ ,_ >) 



LONGFELLOW S BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH I3 

The Parson, too, appeared, a man austere, 
50 The instinct of whose nature was to kill; 

The wrath of God he preached from year to year, 

And read, with fervor, Edwards on the Will; 
His favorite pastime was to slay the deer 
In Summer on some Adirondac hill; 
55 E'en now, while walking down the rural lane, 
He lopped the wayside lillies with his cane. 

From the Academy, whose belfry crowned 

The hill of Science with its vane of brass. 
Came the Preceptor, gazing idly round, 
60 Now at the clouds, and now at the 
green grass, 
And all absorbed in reveries profound 

Of fair Almira in the upper class. 
Who was, as in a sonnet he had said. 
As pure as water, and as good as bread. bluebird 

65 And next the Deacon issued from his door, 

In his voluminous neck-cloth, white as snow; 
A suit of sable bombazine he wore; 

His form was ponderous, and his step was slow; 
There never was so wise a man before; 
70 He seemed the incarnate ''Well, I told you so!" 
And to perpetuate his great renown 
There was a street named after him in town. 




Bluebird 

The good-luck bird and a true harbinger of spring. He seems 
indeed like a patch of sunshine and blue sky as the sun flashes across 
his back and rosy breast. He likes to nest in a box posted in the branches 
of an old apple tree in the orchard, where he feeds on the insects that 
harm the crop. His song is plaintive but sweet, and very welcome to his 
friends. 



14 Longfellow's "birds of killingworth" 

These came together in the new town-hall, 
With sundry farmers from the region round. 
75 The Squire presided, dignified and tall, 

His air impressive and his reasoning sound; 
111 fared it with the birds, both great and small; 
Hardly a friend in all that crowd they found, 
But enemies enough, who every one 
So Charged them with all the crimes beneath the sun. 

When they had ended, from his place apart, 

Rose the Preceptor, to redress the 

wrong. 

And, trembling likea steedbef ore the start. 

Look round bewildered on the ex- 

Song-Sparrow i. i. ^1. 

pectant throng; 
85 Then thought of fair Almira, and took heart 

To speak out what was in him, clear and strong, 
Alike regardless of their smile or frown. 
And quite determined not to be laughed down. 

^' Plato, anticipating the Reviewers, 
90 From his Republic banished without pity 
The Poets; in this little town of yours. 

You put to death, by means of a Committee, 
The ballad-singers and the Troubadours, 
The street-musicians of the heavenly city, 
95 The birds, who make sweet music for us all 
In our dark hours, as David did for Saul. 




Song-Sparrow 

The American optimist. Almost before the snow has melted, 
he appears in your hedge. In heat or cold, in sunshine or shower, this 
cheerful little fellow pipes us a merry strain in a great variety of notes. 
His head is tilted back, displaying a spotted breast w^th one large 
brown blotch in the center. When off duty, he is busy ridding the 
roadside of harmful insects and the seeds of noxious weeds. 



Longfellow's "birds of killingworth" 15 

"The thrush that carols at the dawn of day 
From the green steeples of the piny wood ; 
The oriole in the elm; the noisy jay, 
100 Jargoning like a foreigner at his food; 

The blue-bird balanced on some top-most spray, 

Flooding with melody the neighborhood; 
Linnet and meadow-lark, and all the throng 
That dwell in nests, and have the gift of song. 

105 "You slay them all! and wherefore? 
for the gain 
Of a scant handful more or less of 
wheat, 
Or iye, or barley, or some other grain, 

Scratched up at random by indus- Grow 

trious feet, 
Searching for worm or weevil after rain! 
no Or a few cherries, that are not so sweet 
As are the songs these uninvited guests 
Sing at their feast with comfortable breasts. 

"Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these? 

Do you ne'er think who made them, and who taught 
115 The dialect they speak, where melodies 
Alone are the interpreters of thought ? 
Whose household words are songs in many keys, 

Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught! 
Whose habitations in the tree-tops even 
120 Are halfway houses on the road to heaven! 




Crow 

Although he is a well-known thief and must plead guilty to the 
charge of destroying many eggs of the other birds, yet he also includes 
in his diet many cutworms, wireworms, white grubs, and grasshoppers. 
His glossy, black coat and unusual size make him easily visible as he 
moves along in a leisurely, flapping flight over the woods and fields. 



l6 LONGFELLOW S BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH" 

^' Think, every morning when the sun peeps through 
The dim leaf-latticed windows of the grove, 

How jubilant the happy birds renew 
Their old, melodious madrigals of love! 
125 And when you think of this, remember too 

'Tis always morning somewhere, and above 

The awakening continents, from shore to shore, 

Somewhere the birds are singing evermore. 

''Think of your woods and orchards with- 
out birds ! 
Of empty nests that cling to boughs and 

beams 
As in an idiot's brain remembered words 
Hang empty 'mid the cobwebs of his 
dreams! 

Raven 

Will bleat of flocks or bellowing of herds 
Make up for the lost music, when yoiir teams 
135 Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more 
The feathered gleaners follow to your door ? 

''What! would you rather see the incessant stir 
Of insects in the windrows of the hay, 
And hear the locust and the grasshopper 
140 Their melancholy hurdy-gurdies play ? 
Is this more pleasant to you than the whir 

Of meadow-lark, and its sweet roundelay. 
Or twitter of little field-fares, as you take 
Your nooning in the shade of bush and brake ? 




Raven 

The raven, a first cousin of our common crow, is distinguished by 
his size, being twenty-five inches in length. To bird hunters he is 
known as a dweller in the eastern United States, but to poets like Poe, 
who are impressed by his sense of mystery, he is a ''ghastly, grim, and 
ancient Raven, wandering from the nightly shore." 



Longfellow's '^birds of killingworth" 17 

145 ^^ You call them thieves and pillagers; but know 
They are the winged wardens of your farms, 
Who from the cornfields drive the insidious foe 

And from your harvests keep a hundred harms; 
Even the blackest of them all, the crow, 
150 Renders good service as your man-at-arms, 
Crushing the beetle in his coat of mail. 
And crying havoc on the slug and snail. 

^'How can I teach your children gentleness. 
And mercy to the weak, and rever- 
ence 
155 For Life, which, in its weakness or 

' Orchard Oriole 

Is still a gleam of God's omnipotence, 
Or Death, which, seeming darkness, is no less 
The selfsame light, although averted hence, 
When by your laws, your actions, and your speech, 
160 You contradict the very things I teach?" 

With this he closed; and through the audience went 
A murmur, like the rustle of dead leaves; 

The farmers laughed and nodded, and some bent 
Their yellow heads together like their sheaves; 
165 Men have no faith in fine-spun sentiment 

Who put their trust in bullocks and in beeves. 

The birds were doomed; and, as the record shows, 

A bountv offered for the heads of crows. 




Orchard Oriole 

Watch the tops of the elms in the early part of May. His orange- 
and-black dress and his peculiar call will reveal his whereabouts. He 
sings his song by snatches between meals, which consist chiefly of cater- 
pillars and the boll weevil. He Iovts bits of bright-colored string to 
weave into his long nest which swings, cradle-like, from the under side 
of a swaying branch. 



i8 Longfellow's "birds of killingworth'' 

There was another audience out of reach, 
1 70 Who had no voice nor vote in making laws, 
But in the papers read his little speech. 

And crowned his modest temples with applause; 
They made him conscious, each one more than each. 
He still was victor, vanquished in their cause. 
1 75 Sweetest of all the applause he won from thee, 
O fair Almira at the Academy! 

And so the dreadful massacre began; 

O'er fields and orchards, and o'er woodland 
crests, 
The ceaseless fusillade of terror ran. 

Dead fell the birds, with bloodstains on their 
breasts. 
Or wounded crept away from sight of man, 
While the young died of famine in their nests; 

Blue Jay ^ , , ? ^ -, - , 

A slaughter to be told m groans, not words, 




The very St. Bartholomew of Birds 



185 The Summer came, and all the birds were dead; 
The days were like hot coals; the very ground 
Was burned to ashes; in the orchards fed 

Myriads of caterpillars, and around 
The cultivated fields and garden beds 
190 Hosts of devouring insects crawled, and found 
No foe to check their march, till they had made 
The land a desert without leaf or shade. 



Blue Jay 

He is so handsome in his brilliant blue coat edged with black that 
we may excuse him for being so saucy and quarrelsome. Besides his 
famihar scolding "Jay! Jay!" learn to recognize his wooing note which 
is soft and coaxing; his "bottle song," imitating the sound of blowing 
into a bottle; and his "teeter" song as he bobs up and down on a limb. 
He is fond of soft-shelled nuts, wood-boring beetles, and larvae. 



Longfellow's ''birds of killingworth'' 19 

Devoured by worms, like Herod, was the town, 
Because, like Herod, it had ruthlessly 
19 5 Slaughtered the Innocents. From the trees spun down 
The canker-worms upon the passersby. 
Upon each woman's bonnet, shawl, and gown, 

Who shook them off with just a little cry; 
They were the terror of each favorite walk, 
200 The endless theme of all the village talk. 

The farmers grew impatient, but a few^ 
Confessed their error, and would not 
complain, 
For after all, the best thing one can do, 
When it is raining, is to let it rain. 
205 Then they repealed the law, although 
they knew 
It would not call the dead to life again; 
As schoolboys, finding their mistake too late. 
Draw a wet sponge across the accusing slate. 

That year in Killingworth the Autumn came 
210 Without the light of his majestic look, 
The wonder of the falling tongues of flame 

The illumined pages of his Doom's-Day book. 
A few lost leaves blushed crimson with their shame 
And drowned themselves despairing in the brook, 
215 While the wild wind went moaning everywhere, 
Lamenting the dead children of the air! 




Redpoll or American Linnet 

He gets his name from his tiny red cap and rosy breast which show 
up plainly against the snowdrift, where he is to be found eating seeds 
from the projecting grasses and weeds. He likes the cold and snow and 
never ventures very far to the south. His song is something like that 
of the canary or goldfinch. 



20 



LONGFELLOW S 



^^BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH" 




But the next Spring a stranger sight was seen, 
A sight that never yet by bard was sung, 

As great a wonder as it would have been 
220 If some dumb animal had found a tongue! 

A wagon, overarched with evergreen, 

Upon whose boughs were wicker cages hung. 

All full of singing birds, came down the street, 

Filling the air wdth music wild and sweet. 

From all the country round these birds 
were brought. 
By order of the town, with anxious quest. 
And, loosened from their wicker prisons, 
sought 
In woods and fields the places they loved 
best, 
Singing loud canticles, which many thought 
230 Were satires to the authorities addressed. 
While others, listening in green lanes, averred 
Such lovely music never had been heard! 

But blither still and louder carolled they 
Upon the morrow, for they seemed to know 
235 It was the fair Almira's wedding-day. 

And everywhere, around, above, below. 
When the Preceptor bore his bride away. 

Their songs burst forth in joyous overflow. 
And a new heaven bent over a new earth 
240 Amid the sunny farms of Killingworth. 



Meadow Lark 



Meadow Lark 

''See here! See here! Spring o' the year!" he sings as he perches 
on the fence post — awkward, ungainly, but alert. He wears a shield 
of black on his bright yellow breast and, as he flies away sputtering, 
displays white outer tail feathers. He is a persistent enemy of the 
alfalfa and boll weevils, cutworms, army worms, and grasshoppers. 



NOTES 

L. 2: Merle mtd mavis. The merle is a European blackbird. 
Mavis is an old name for a thrush common in most parts of 
Europe. They are often mentioned together by the English 
poets in connection with the sweetness of their song. The 
Century Dictionary quotes from ChiWs Ballads, 

The mavis is the sweetest bird, 
Next to the nightingale; 

also from Lowell, 

Vernal Chaucer whose fresh woods 

Throb thick with merle and mavis all the year. 

Longfellow doubtless used these names because of these poet- 
ical associations, perhaps having in mind some of our earliest 
spring birds. 

L. 3: Lyric. A poem expressed, or fit to be expressed, in song, 
giving the writer's own thoughts and feelings. 

L. 4: Caedmon. A poet belonging to the early Anglo-Saxon 
period of English literature. His greatest work is A Metrical 
Paraphrase of the Scriptures. In this poem he speaks of God 
as ''the Blithe-heart King." 

L. 6: Vanguard. Foremost division of an army on the march. 
The figure is personification, and Spring is the army, whose 
"vanguard" is waving the buds as banners. 

L. 8: Fluttering signals. Mist or foam or the shine of the moving 
water. 

LI. II, 12: See Matt. 10:29-31. Christ, speaking to his disciples, 
says, ''Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of 
them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But 
the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not 
therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows." See 
also Luke 12:6-7. 

21 



22 Longfellow's "birds of killingworth" 

L. 15: The raven^s cry. Ps. 147:9: "He giveth to the beast his 
food, and to the young ravens which cry." Also Luke 12 : 24: 
^^ Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which 
neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them.'^ 

L. 16: Quoted from the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:ii'; Luke 11:3). 

L. 17: Sound. Long Island Sound. Killingworth is about ten 
miles north of the Sound. 

LI. 21-24: Outlandish. Foreign, not native; hence strange, 
rude, barbarous. Gibberish. Akin to jabber. Rapid and 
inarticulate talk. Longfellow was born and grew up in a 
seaport town where ships from strange countries often came. 
He was probably frightened many times by the boisterous 
ways and odd ^^gibberish" of the sailors, for he more than 
once alludes to the strange ways of foreign sailors. In the 
poem '^My Lost Youth'' he says, 

I remember the black wharves and the slips, 

And the sea- tides tossing free, 
And Spanish sailors with bearded lips. 
And the beauty and mystery of the ships. 

And the magic of the sea. 

L. 25: Jocund. Merry, sportive. 

L. 26: Fabulous days. This poem was written in 1863, hence the 
"fabulous days" must have been in 1763 or thereabouts. 
Many writers, when locating fictitious events in a real place, 
especially if it is not far from their own homes, find it con- 
venient to put the time back in "fabulous days" for fear of 
' resentment on the part of the people of the place. 

L. 30: Cassandra. A prophetess, the daughter of King Priam 
of Troy. Her prophecies, though always true, were never 
believed. She foretold the downfall of Troy. 

L. 39: The skeleton, etc. It is said that toward the close of ban- 
quets in Egypt a servant brought in a small skeleton and 
showed it to the guests saying, "Eat, drink, and be merry, 
for tomorrow ye die." This was supposed to increase their 
pleasure. ^ 



Longfellow's * birds of killingworth" 23 

L. 43 : Squire. In England a country gentleman or the chief 
landed proprietor in a certain district; in rank below a 
knight. In the United States the word is used as a title 
of honor or courtesy and is often applied to a justice 
of the peace. 

L. 52: Edwards on the Will, The book referred to is a treatise 
entitled The Freedom of the Will. It was written by Jonathan 
Edwards, the greatest preacher and writer of Colonial times, 
and "the first American to acquire a reputation abroad by 
his pen.'' In this book as well as in his sermons Edwards 
has much to say about the anger and wrath of God. 

L. 57: Academy. One of those schools between the common 
school and the college which, in the early history of our 
country, partially supplied the place of the high school which 
had not yet come into existence. 

L. 58: The hill of Science. So called because of the academy 
building which crowned its top. 

L. 59: Preceptor. Principal or superintendent. 

L. 63: Sonnet. A lyric poem of fourteen lines, expressing the 
emotion of the writer. It was formerly the custom for lovers 
who could do so to write sonnets on the virtues and beauties 
of their lady-loves. 

L. 67: Sahle. Here means black. Bombazine. A fine, twilled 
silk-and-wool material. 

LI. 89, 90: Plato. A Greek philosopher who lived in the fourth 
century B.C. He wrote a book called the Republic in which 
he gave his ideals of government and society. Reviewers. 
Those who write comment or criticism on books for the period- 
icals. Longfellow probably refers to some of the writers of 
England who, during the earlier years of his life, had written 
severe criticism of Wordsworth and some of the other Eng- 
lish poets. Anticipating. Here means acting sooner or 
earlier than someone else. Longfellow means to say in a 
humorous way in these lines that first Plato and then the 
reviewers tried to banish the poets. 

L. 93: Troubadours. Famous lyric poets of France, Italy, and 
Spain, who flourished in the thirteenth century. They wrote 



24 Longfellow's '^birds of killingworth" 

chiefly of love. Both ballad-singers and troubadours were 
loved by the people. 

L. 94: Heavenly city. The air. 

L. 96: 5aw/. King of Israel.- David. A shepherd lad who after- 
ward became king of Israel. See I Sam. 16: 22, 23. 

L. 100: Jargoning. Uttering unintelligible sounds. 

L. 109: Weevil. A small beetle which in the larva form is very- 
destructive to roots, fruits, and grain. 

L. 117: Songs in many keys. In 1861, about two years before 
this poem was written, Holmes published a small volume of 
poems entitled Songs in Many Keys. 

L. 124: Madrigal. A short love song; an old-fashioned term 
used often in poetry in speaking of the songs of the birds. 

L. 140: Hurdy-gurdy. Originally a peculiar musical instrument 
played by turning a resined crank, and giving forth a melan- 
choly, droning sound; now "any instrument of a droning 
sound played by means of a handle, as the barrel organ" 
(Standard Dictionary) . 

L. 143: Field-fare. A European thrush. 

L. 150: Man-at-arms. A mounted soldier very heavily armed. 

L. 151: Coat-of-mail. A metal outer garment or coat worn for 
defense. 

L. 152: Crying havoc. Havoc is destruction let loose. To "cry 
havoc'' was formerly, in war and in hunting, to give a signal 
for carnage and destruction. In Shakespeare's Julius 
Caesar, Antony, in his oration over the body of the slain 
Caesar, is made to say, 

And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, 
With Ate by his side, come hot from hell, 
Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice. 
Cry Havoc, and let loose the dogs of war. 

L. 177: Massacre. Reckless and wholesale slaughter of the 

defenseless. 
L. 179: Fusillade. A continuous discharge of firearms. 
L. 184: A massacre of French Protestants which took place in 

Paris and the provinces and began on St. Bartholomew's 



Longfellow's ^'birds of killingworth" 25 

Day, August 24, 1572. The Century Dictionary states that 
the number of victims is estimated as between 20,cx)o and 
30,000. 

LI. 193-195: For an account of the slaughter of the innocents 
by Herod the Great see Matt. 2:16, 17. But it was his 
grand-son, Herod Agrippa, who was "eaten of worms and gave 
up the ghost.'' For an account of this see Acts 12 : 21-23. 

L. 196: Canker-worm. A caterpillar destructive to shade trees 
and fruit trees. 

L. 211: Falling tongues of flame. See Acts 2:2-4. By "falling 
tongues of flame'' Longfellow here means red autumn leaves. 
The figure is metaphor. 

L. 212: Illumined. Decorated in rich colors with ornamental 
letters, scrolls, etc. Very beautiful work in illuminating 
manuscripts used to be done by monks in convents. Long- 
fellow thinks of the autumn leaves as manuscripts richly 
illuminated in colors. In his poem "To a Child" he speaks 
of— 

the old apple-tree, 
With its o'erhanging golden canopy 
Of leaves illuminate with autumnal hues. 

Doom's-Day hook. Doom's-Day is the day of judgment. The 
name Doom's-Day book was a nickname given by the people 
to a registration of all the lands in his kingdom made by 
William the Conqueror. Autumn is here personified by the 
poet as a monarch and the leaves are the pages of his book. 
Perhaps it is, in the figure, a Doom's-Day book, because the 
color of its pages indicates the coming of the end of the 
year. 

L. 222: Wicker. Made of plaited twigs. 

L. 229: Canticles. Little songs; hymns sung in worship. 

L. 239: See Isa. 65:17-25: "For, behold, I create new heavens 

and a new earth They shall not hurt nor destroy 

in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." 



QUESTIONS 

[Editor's Note. — These questions are intended, not so much as 
a test of the pupil's knowledge, as to help him to see things in the poem 
that he had not before noticed. They do not cover the information con- 
tained in the introductory material or the notes. Such questions should 
therefore be added by the teacher. The numbers refer to the lines 
of the poem.] 

How does the poet, 11. 1-4, suggest that the songs of the birds 
are specially prepared by God himself as a gift to humanity? 
What three things are mentioned in 11. 1-8 as doing something to 
show that it is spring ? Is it late or early spring ? How proved ? 
The birds are called what in 1. 6 ? The figure is personification. 
Spring is a queen, marching on, her vanguard waving purple 
banners. 

What birds of early spring are mentioned in 11. 9-16 ? Give 
the verb used to describe the song or cry of each. In what way 
does the poet in these lines contrive to throw around the birds 
sacred associations and remind us that they are represented in 
the Bible as being under the special care of God ? What effect 
does the poet mean this to have on our feeling toward those who 
destroy them ? 

What are birds of passage ? In what two or three ways do 
they, in 11. 17-24, show friendliness to the people of the village as 
they pass over ? By the use of the expressions, '^sailed," ^'speak- 
ing .... language," "hailed village with cheers of fleet," the 
poet personifies the birds as human beings, sailors. In 11. 21-24 
the figure is changed to simile. What memories of his boyhood 
in 11. 21-24? 

Meaning of "fabulous" in 1. 26 ? Why should the farmers be 
more alarmed by the notes of the crow than by those of other 
birds ? Why was it particularly necessary for the farmers in those 
days to be sure of pretty good crops ? Was it ignorance of the 
value of the birds, or love of what they called sport, or just pure 
cruelty that made them determine (11. 31-32) to kill all the birds ? 

26 



Longfellow's ''birds of killingworth" 27 

For what purpose was this solemn meeting of all the men of 
the town called (11. 33-36) ? Does the poet mean to have us see 
that the whole performance was a little ridiculous ? What is it 
to set a price upon the head of anything or anybody ? What two 
charges, in 11. 35-40, were brought against the birds? W^hat is 
it to levy blackmail ? Why did the sight of the scarecrow increase 
the pleasure of the birds as they ate the corn ? 

Is there anything in the description of the Squire (11. 41-48) 
to' indicate that his house was built as a "temple" in which to 
worship himself? In whose opinion was he an '^august and 
splendid sight" as he majestically descended the three flights of 
steps and took his way along the street ? Why look neither to 
the right nor left since there were probably other people on the 
street ? Why does Longfellow make so much fun of him ? What 
particular thing about himself is he conceited over? And all 
this majestic aristocracy is on its way to the town meeting to 
fight against what ? Show the way in which he walked down the 
street. 

Meaning of "austere," 1. 49? What four things are told 
about the Parson to show his cruel nature? On which side in 
this quarrel against the birds would you expect a parson to be ? 

What difference between the gaze of the Preceptor as he went 
to the meeting and that of the Squire as he went? What ails 
the young man that he gazes at clouds and grass, is in a deep 
reverie, and writes sonnets ? Is his mind engaged in planning 
vengeance against the birds? Is it any discredit to the fair 
Almira to be compared by her lover to things so useful and neces- 
sary as bread and water ? By bringing in this suggestion of a love 
story the poet increases the interest. 

Who next (11. 65-72) appears on the scene ? In whose opinion 
was there never so wise a man before ? What particular thing in 
himself is he conceited about ? Why does the poet make fun of 
him? Of these four personages which one represents the civil 
authority, or the government ? the church ? the school ? Which 
institution is on the right side of the question? Which of the 
four characters does Longfellow most dislike ? Which one is most 
proud of his rank and authority?. AMiich one is most proud of 



y^ ic^^^^r. ^^ ^^^^^^^^ ,r^^^,^^n 



28 LONGFELLOW S BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH 

his wisdom ? Try to impersonate the walk of each one on his way 
to the meeting. 

Aside from these dignitaries who else (1. 74) came to the 
meeting ? What does the fact that the town hall was new (1. 73) 
indicate as to the age of the town itself ? Give your ideas as to 
the kind of speeches the Squire, the Parson, and the Deacon each 
made in the meeting. Of what would the farmers be most likely 
to speak ? 

Who (11. 81-88) was the most courageous man in the meeting ? 
Why, probably, did he occupy a place apart? Why tremble? 
What indicates that he knew the fair Almira would be disap- 
pointed in him if he did not speak out in defense of the birds ? 
What effect did the thought of Almira have upon him? What 
is your opinion of Almira by this time ? 

The Preceptor, in beginning his speech (11. 89-96), has to fall 
back on his learning, but he finally makes a good start by showing 
his audience that they are just as foolish, and more cruel, in killing 
the birds in their town than Plato was in banishing the poets from 
his Republic. What other point does he make in favor of the 
birds (11. 95, 96), which is gained from his knowledge of the Bible ? 
What did David's music do for Saul? "The Birds'' (1. 95), and 
'thrush," "oriole," "jay," "bluebird," "linnet," and "meadow 
lark," in 11. 97-104, are all direct objects of what verb ? 

On what part of what kind of tree (11. 97, 98) does the Pre- 
ceptor mean to say that the thrush sings at dawn ? What indi- 
cations are there in 11. 97-104 that the Preceptor himself was 
something of a poet ? that he was a close observer of nature ? Does 
he make any mistakes in what he says about the birds in these lines ? 

What does he show in 11. 105-112 that the birds are really 
searching for when they destroy the grain? Why "after rain" 
in 1. 109? He shows that the birds pay how for the cherries 
they eat ? 

What answer would you have to make to the question in 
1. 113 ? The poet (11. 1 14-120) speaks of birds' songs and of their 
nests as wonderful. Can you think of any other wonderful things 
about the birds ? Had the Preceptor's audience apparently ever 
thought much about these things ? 



Longfellow's ''birds of killingworth'' 29 

How (11. 1 21-124) does the speaker show that the birds are 
faithful in their task of making music for the world ? To what 
part of our country do morning, the sunshine, and the bird songs 
come first? Which way do they travel across our '^ awakening 
continent " ? This stanza (11. 1 2 i-i 28) is one of the most beautiful 
in the poem and should be committed to memory. 

What argument in 11. 129-152 appeals to the pocket-book 
and probably moved the Preceptor^s listeners more than any- 
thing else he said? 

What three things in 11. 153-155 was the Preceptor trying to 
teach the children ? What is said about life in 11. 155, 156 ? It is 
very important that these two lines be understood, for they con- 
tain the central thought of the entire poem. ^^ Still" is used here 
in the sense of always, and "omnipotence " means unlimited power. 
The lines mean that life, in either the least or the greatest thing, 
always shows God's infinite power. We can see that this is true, 
for we know that while human beings can destroy life, as in a bird, 
an insect, or a blade of grass, they cannot make one of these things 
alive again. The Preceptor's whole speech is an effort to make 
the men see that they have no right to destroy the life which 
God has taken such infinite pains to create. LI. 153-160 should 
also be committed to memory. 

Did the town meeting applaud when the Preceptor ended 
his speech? In what ways did the men show that they were 
still determined to kill the birds ? Would you expect these men 
to be very kind or polite to anyone whose ideas were not the same 
as their own ? 

Who did give him kind words and approval (11. 169-176) ? 
And the kindest words of all came from whom? Judging from 
what is said in 11. 173-174, what do you imagine the women said 
to the Preceptor when they chanced to meet him after they had 
read his speech? In 1. 169 the poet tells us that the "other 
audience," the women, were "out of reach," that is, they were 
out of reach of the town meeting and of the possibility of helping 
to decide whether or not the birds should be slaughtered. Prove 
from 11. 185-200, and 11. 209-216 that they were not out of reach 
of any of the bad results that followed. 



30 Longfellow's ''birds of killingworth" 

Describe the massacre and its effects on the birds. How 
much time passes between the events given in 11. 177-184 and those 
given in 11. 185-192 ? Describe fully the effects of the slaughter 
on the country (11. 185-192); on the town (11. 193-200). 

The farmers grew impatient (1. 201) about what ? And all 
but a few of them complained about what ? When they finally 
repealed the bird law what were they compelled to remember that 
they could not do ? 

Did their trouble end when the summer ended? Write a 
paragraph describing the kind of autumn they had, one without 
either autumn coloring or falling leaves, showing also how the 
few remaining leaves and the winds mourned the loss of the birds. 

At what time of the year does the action of the poem open ? 
At what time of year does it close ? How much time then does 
the entire action cover ? What law did the men of Killingworth 
pass in a town meeting in the first spring of the story? What 
kind of a law do they pass (11. 225-226) in another town meeting 
in the second spring of the poem ? Contrast the scene of 11. 177- 
179 with that of 11. 217-226. Contrast the condition of the birds 
in 11. 180-184 with that in 11. 227-232. How does the poet con- 
trive, in the last stanza, to unite the two stories of the poem, the 
story of the lovers and the story of the birds? How must the 
feeling among the men about the Preceptor's speech have changed ? 

If we consider this story to be a little tragicomedy (drama of 
mixed tragic and comic elements), the climax or culmination is 
found in the massacre of the birds (11. 177-184). After this the 
bad results which teach the people their mistake begin and con- 
tinue through the summer, autumn, and winter, until finally the 
denouement or happy ending is reached in the last town meeting, 
the anxious search through the country for more birds, their 
liberation, their joyous songs, and the Preceptor's marriage. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR DRAMATIZATION 

After a thorough study of the poem, it might easily be worked 
up by the class into a little play, something as follows : 

Characters, The Squire, Parson, Deacon, Preceptor, farmers, 
wives of all, and Almira. 

Scene i, On the Way to the Town Meeting: Place, a street in 
Killingworth. The words Town Hall over a door at the end. 
Flowers stuck in boxes of sand for the Parson to lop with his cane. 
Characters enter singly and walk to meeting as described in poem, 
some other people in the street, farmers bringing up the rear. 

Scene ii. The Town Meeting, as in poem: Let the class write 
speeches for each character, one or two farmers making speeches, 
and the Preceptor giving his in full as in poem. After speeches, 
motions to choose sides, shoot birds, have banquet, offer bounty 
for crows, etc. 

Scene in, A Sewing Circle: Wives of all and Almira present. 
Unfavorable comment on the action of the town meeting ; account 
of the Preceptor's speech given and received with cheers, etc. 
Some remarks made to Almira about her lover; he calls for her, 
and they leave together. Curtain. 

Scene iv. Second Town Meeting (a year later). Women all 
there. Mournful speeches made telling what has happened 
because of loss of birds. Preceptor proposes search for more 
birds; is loudly cheered; motion passed. Preceptor and Almira 
asked to stand, and speech of gratitude made to them by the 
Squire. Curtain falls. 



31 



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Head of the Department of English^ Central State Normal School 
Mt. Pleasant^ Michigan ^^^^^^ 

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Longfellow's 
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